


Case 16: Party Until You're Dead

by Haedonrocks



Series: Criminal Case: The Mystery Skulls [16]
Category: Criminal Case (Video Game), Mystery Skulls Animated
Genre: F/M, Murder at the yacht, Their prime suspect is dead
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-24
Updated: 2021-01-30
Packaged: 2021-03-16 10:46:51
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 4
Words: 8,234
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28955184
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Haedonrocks/pseuds/Haedonrocks
Summary: The gang had the plan of finding the plans and arrest their lead suspect into the nuclear weapons investigation, Riley Reynolds who was a suspect from a previous case. Unfortunately, he ends up murdered in his room with no answer to the missing files. Lewis needs to find his killer before things get wild.
Series: Criminal Case: The Mystery Skulls [16]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1684867
Kudos: 1





	1. Chapter 1

Lewis Pepper: Tonight is a beautiful night at Ocean Side. With the waves calm down and the stars up in the sky. Is there anything that can be better?  
Vivi Yukino: Oh yeah, you got that party at Riley's yacht in just an hour. Remember, your job is to find those files of the nuclear weapons that Riley Reynolds has. Once you have them we can arrest Riley for terrorism and force him to rat out the others.  
Lewis Pepper: Hopefully he’s on the yacht when I get there.  
Arthur Kingsmen: While you’re at it, I’ve activated a GPS tracker in your suit just to know where you are at the moment. If you can, put this one on Riley so we can track his movements too.  
Lewis Pepper: Sounds awesome, thank you Arthur.  
Mystery Yukino: Say, while you’re there, bring back some food. I’m wanting to know what rich food tastes like.  
Vivi Yukino: And I thought you were a picky eater.  
Mystery Yukino: Nope, that’s Arthur. I’m the one who likes to eat anything edible you give me.  
Arthur Kingsmen: And I’m still wondering how you’re not in food eating contests yet.  
Lewis Pepper: I’ll love to talk about this more, but I gotta head to the yacht before they sail off without me. 

At the yacht.  
Lewis Pepper: Wow, this boat is awesome. It really feels like I’m a rich person.  
Ecole Rivas: Oh yeah, that’s what happens when you enjoy the life of another man’s hobby.  
Lewis Pepper: Heh, well it’s my second time invited to something so spectacular. My name is Lewis Pepper.  
Ecole Rivas: Ecole Rivas. Say have you seen the host Riley Reynolds? I wanted to speak to him about how great this party is.  
Lewis Pepper: I’m not sure where he is. Maybe we could go check his room and see what he’s doing.  
Ecole Rivas: I can try the party room again and see if he’s in there.

Lewis Pepper: (Knocks on the door.) Mr. Reynolds? Are you in there? Huh, he must be somewhere else. Maybe I can take a look inside and see if I can find those files. The door is unlocked so I won’t have to pick it. 

In Riley's room, he finds the body of Riley Reynolds, sitting in his chair with a strangulation ligature mark on his throat. He also finds Riley's broken phone and a torn letter.  
Lewis Pepper: Oh my god! It’s Riley Reynolds! It looks like someone strangled him with something, there’s bruising on his neck. That means that Riley has been murdered here on this yacht and the killer is still on board. At least I got some clues to start this investigation like this broken phone. The key chain on the case says that it belongs to Riley Reynolds. The killer must have broken it in case Reily knew them. There seems to be some strange substance on the screen, I should collect a sample. And this letter is all torn up, maybe restoring it could give me something good. Without Riley Reynolds, I won’t know where he hid those plans. But maybe his killer knows. 

Lewis sends the body to the morgue and collects a sample off of the victim's phone.  
Lewis Pepper: With the sample, Samantha should tell me what it is.

Lewis sends the sample to Samantha and fixes the torn paper.  
Lewis Pepper: Hmm, it looks like this letter is from the victim. It looks like he’s thanking some for his insurance problem he was having a month ago. He was giving this letter to someone by the name of Joy Lin. According to the list of the people on the party, Joy Lin is on the yacht. I should ask her about Reily and where she was at during the time of the murder. But of course, I have to lie and say that he’s alive and left. Just hope that everyone believes that.

Lewis talks to Joy Lin.  
Lewis Pepper: Are you Joy Lin?  
Joy Lin: Yep, that’s me. Is there anything I can help you with?  
Lewis Pepper: Yeah, I found this letter Reily wrote about his insurance problem. What exactly was he thanking you for?  
Joy Lin: Oh that? It was nothing. He accidently wrecked his fifteen million dollar lamborghini and I gave him a good insurance policy for a million dollars. He was thanking me for saving some cash.  
Lewis Pepper: So you work at a cars dealership?  
Joy Lin: Not exactly, I’m his accountant. I keep his money in check with records. By the way, have you seen Reily? He hasn’t been anywhere for the past hour.  
Lewis Pepper: I’m afraid you won’t be seeing him, he just left the yacht for a meeting.  
Joy Lin: Really? That’s very unusual of him. Even in one of the greatest parties he’s ever hosted. Anyway, I got to go. I found a new hottie to chat too.

Lewis Pepper: Lying to a suspect is not going to go great for me. I hate lying to people. But since Reily was at the main room where the party was, I should find some more clues to help me.

At the main room, Lewis finds a wallet and a faded piece note card.  
Lewis Pepper: This place is sure packed, how many people did Riley invited? I’m lucky enough to find some clues here that can help me solve his murder. This wallet is surely here to be stolen. Maybe there’s an ID in here to find out who it belongs to. There’s this faded note card here, maybe dusting it can reveal what it says. 

Lewis dusts the note card.  
Lewis Pepper: Huh, these are just numbers. It looks almost like some sort of computer code. Maybe Arthur can understand what this is about.

Lewis sends the note card to Arthur and goes through the wallet.  
Lewis Pepper: So this wallet I found belongs to a certain Kirk Ruiz. According to the database, he’s the captain for this yacht. Maybe he can tell us about Riley and see what their relationship was between them. 

Lewis Pepper talks to Kirk Ruiz.  
Kirk Ruiz: Hey, you’re not allowed to be up here. Employees only.  
Lewis Pepper: Lewis Pepper, I work for the Mystery Skulls. I’m just here to ask you questions about your client Riley Reynolds.  
Kirk Ruiz: Not much besides he wanted me to sail this yacht. I heard he left. Does this mean I have to bring the boat back?  
Lewis Pepper: About that, can you keep a secret to yourself?  
Kirk Ruiz: I can, what’s going on?  
Lewis Pepper: Well, Riley Reynolds was found dead in his room, he’s been murdered.  
Kirk Ruiz: Murdered!? Who would want to murder a rich guy?  
Lewis Pepper: I’m not sure, but you have to keep this a secret or everything is going to be a disaster.  
Kirk Ruiz: Of course, the last thing everyone needs is to know that the host is dead. I’m guessing there’s more to this?  
Lewis Pepper: Besides leaving your wallet at the main hall of the party, I want to know what you thought of Riley.  
Kirk Ruiz: So that’s where I put it, I’ve been looking for my wallet everywhere. As for Mr. Reynolds, the guy was fantastic. He was loaded with cash and gave me a decent paycheck for every trip I take him to. I guess that’s the end of that now.  
Lewis Pepper: I see, just don’t put this boat back out on the docks until I find this killer.

Lewis Pepper: Arthur should have the results on the note card by now, I should call him. (He calls Arthur.)  
Arthur Kingsmen: Lewis, I heard what happened. Are you okay?  
Lewis Pepper: I’m fine. I need to find out who killed Riley Reynolds and the plans for the nuclear weapons. Did you find out what the note card was for?  
Arthur Kingsmen: I did and it’s bad news. After looking at the numbers on the note card, I decided to punch them into the computer. It turns out it’s a hacking tool to create fake IDs and invitations. Someone must have used it to get into the yacht with a fake invitation card.  
Lewis Pepper: You’re telling me there’s a spy in here!?  
Arthur Kingsmen: Either that or someone really wanted to go to this party. But don’t worry, I checked the invitation list you gave me and compared it from the original that was downloaded before. Only one person wasn’t in the first list, a woman by the name of Ecole Rivas.  
Lewis Pepper: Ecole Rivas!? I just talked to her before. It could explain why she was asking to find Riley before I found him dead. I need to find her before she escapes.

Lewis talks to Ecole Rivas.  
Lewis Pepper: Stay where you are Ecole Rivas. I know that you hacked into the server to get a fake invitation for this yacht.  
Ecole Rivas: I don’t know what you are talking about Lewis, I didn’t cheat the system to be here I earned my way.  
Lewis Pepper: If you’re after Reily, it doesn’t matter he’s dead.  
Ecole Rivas: Reynolds is dead!? Great, there goes my mission.  
Lewis Pepper: You’re on a mission?  
Ecole Rivas: Yes, I was sent by the FBI to help find these plans for the nuclear weapons your victim was going to use. After that, I was ordered to arrest and bring him to HQ where we were going to interrogate him.  
Lewis Pepper: Sounds like you’re on the same mission I’m on, but Riley gave me an invitation instead of hacking for one.  
Ecole Rivas: Then we should team up and find out who murdered him.  
Lewis Pepper: Sorry, but I can’t do that. You’re a suspect in this investigation for lying your way through. I’m the one in charge of this case.

Lewis Pepper: Let’s see what Samantha has for the sample. (He calls Samantha.)  
Samantha Romenz: Lewis, I feel like I’m getting deja vu here.  
Lewis Pepper: Yeah, it’s like my time at that mansion back at Entertainment City. What did you find on the sample I sent you?  
Samantha Romenz: I like to say first that Arthur couldn’t find anything on the victim’s phone. Both the SD card and the phone itself was damaged pretty badly. As for the sample, it’s uncommon to have champagne on the phone unless someone was holding both the phone and the glass of champagne at the same time and spilled some on the device. I checked with Danny and surprisingly, Riley hasn’t drunk any champagne at the party.  
Lewis Pepper: Then that means the killer drinks champagne. But it’s common for people to drink champagne here on this yacht. I just hope that someone confesses to murder.

Lewis calls Danny.  
Lewis Pepper: Hey Danny, remember when I said that parties I got to always ends abruptly?  
Danny Lins: Yeah, but at least no one knows that Riley is actually dead. So I examined the bruising on his neck and I can say that it was some sort of chain that strangled him. Most likely a gold one since I found flakes of it on his neck.  
Lewis Pepper: Of course, his golden necklace. It was his favorite thing to wear and it wasn’t on him when I found him dead.  
Danny Lins: Then if you find that, you got the murder weapon. But then something else caught my eye, I found a lot of bruising on his body and yet rare on his knuckles. It's like the killer knew how to defend himself and avoided his attacks before strangling him.  
Lewis Pepper: So Reilly’s killer knows self defense. I just hope the killer doesn’t attack me when I cuff them. 

Lewis Pepper: This wasn’t the plan at all. All I had to do was to find those plans, find Reily and arrest him. Instead I found him in his room, strangled what is most likely his golden necklace that seems to be missing. All I know is that the killer drinks champagne and knows self defense. I did get some suspects like the captain, Kirk Ruiz who said that he liked him for his paychecks. Then we have Joy Lin who helped him with his insurance problem for one million dollars. Finally there’s our prime suspect Ecole Rivas who hacked her way into the party just to find those same plans I’m after. My head is telling me that she’s the killer and I can end this case like a book. (He then hears some arguing going on in the main deck.) Uh oh, it sounds like someone is fighting.


	2. Chapter 2

Lewis Pepper: This wasn’t the plan when I got on this yacht. My prime suspect for a nuclear weapons attack was found murdered in his room. The murder weapon is still missing and I have no idea who killed him, although I have somone in mind who might be capable of murder. (He then hears people arguing.) Hey, it sounds like someone is fighting on the yacht, I got to check this out.

At the main deck.  
Kirk Ruiz: Sir, please calm down. Everything is going to be fine.  
Kyan Meyer: Fine!? Riley ditched this boat and I need more champagne!   
Kirk Ruiz: You’re clearly drunk, I’ll need you to stay put until then.  
Lewis Pepper: Mr. Ruiz? What’s going on?  
Kirk Ruiz: Mr. Meyer here is drunk and wants to go back home. He’s Mr. Reynolds’s best friend.  
Kyan Meyer: You’re right he’s the best! I love him so much!  
Lewis Pepper: Alright, how about you put him in Riley's room for now until he sobers up?  
Kirk Ruiz: I will. Come on Mr. Meyer.  
Lewis Pepper: Wow, what a wasted guy he is. I’ll talk to him later after I keep on searching for more clues. This main deck looks like a good place to find more clues so I’ll start here.

On the main deck, Lewis finds a shoe box and a laptop.   
Lewis Pepper: Alright, let’s see what I have here. There’s this empty shoe box, but it sounds like there’s something in here. I should search through it and see what’s inside. I also found this unsecure laptop. Man, a lot of people here keep leaving their things behind as if they want them to be stolen. I could hack into this laptop and check who it belongs to. Also, I should talk to Kyan Meyer and tell him what he knows about Reily, he should be sober by now. 

Lewis talks to Kyan Meyer.  
Lewis Pepper: Kyan Meyer, how much champagne did you have tonight?   
Kyan Meyer: Not too many I hope, I’m not even sure what I did after that.   
Lewis Pepper: Well arguing with the captain is what you mostly did. So are you Riley’s best friend?   
Kyan Meyer: Yeah I am. Hearing him ditching this party made me somewhat mad. I was supposed to support him with everything here and help him get through his chronic illness.  
Lewis Pepper: Chronic illness? Like what?  
Kyan Meyer: To be honest, most likely his kidney disease. The guy had painful experiences with them for years. He had treatments for them but it won’t help make it go away. I tried talking him out of drinking alcohol, but wouldn’t even listen to me. I care about him sir.   
Lewis Pepper: It’s what a good friend does. Sorry to hear about him ditching.  
Kyan Meyer: Yeah, but a meeting is a meeting. I won’t stop him for that. Can I go now, I want to apologize to that captain for arguing with him.  
Lewis Pepper: Sure but just don’t drink anymore champaign for now on.

Lewis searches through the shoe box.  
Lewis Pepper: Huh, why is there an empty champagne glass in this shoe box? Usually they would be in the kitchen. Wait a minute, this looks like it’s been used. Someone really wanted no one to find this glass. Maybe Samantha can find something off of it, I’ll give it to her.

He sends the glass to Samantha and unlocks the laptop.  
Lewis Pepper: With this laptop unlocked, Arthur can go over it and find what secrets this person was hiding. 

He sends the laptop to Arthur and calls him later.  
Arthur Kingsmen: Still any luck on getting off that boat?  
Lewis Pepper: Arthur, I need this boat on sea. The killer is still on it and could be making their next kill soon if I don’t solve it.  
Arthur Kingsmen: And that’s why I won’t waste your time. The laptop you brought me didn’t belong to the victim. Yet it belongs to someone we know very well, a certain previous suspect by the name Pamela Sharp.  
Lewis Pepper: I know that name. She was the director for that comedy club and was a suspect for Chuck Laughter’s murder. She’s on the boat?  
Arthur Kingsmen: Even more. It turns out that she knew Riley Reynolds very well since he was a fan of her show. He even invited her on board to talk about it more.  
Lewis Pepper: Sounds like she’ll make a good suspect for the list. I’ll talk to her.

Lewis talks to Pamela Sharp.   
Pamela Sharp: Detective Pepper? I thought we would have never met.   
Lewis Pepper: Well you’ve met my girlfriend Vivi before and here I am seeing you at this party.  
Pamela Sharp: Oh this party is a blast. Who ever knew the host Riley Reynolds loved my show?   
Lewis Pepper: I heard about that. He must have been devastated after hearing what happened to Chuck Laughter and Johnny McDowell.   
Pamela Sharp: Yeah, he was. He told me that he was a fan from the first time it aired on live TV. I tell you that Riley is a nice guy, he always brings me a glass of champagne even if I didn’t ask. But I still don’t understand why he had to ditch the party.   
Lewis Pepper: A meeting is very important, even with money.   
Pamela: Good point. Now, I should get back to parting then. I might see you again sometime.  
Lewis Pepper: Of course.

Lewis calls Samantha on the phone.  
Lewis Pepper: Samantha, I hope you weren’t planning on keeping that glass for your own.  
Samantha Romenz: I’ll be honest, it’s an amazing cup and I want to keep it. But I do have a job to do and I might have to pay for it. And it was a good thing you did send it to me, it’s the killer’s glass.   
Lewis Pepper: What? How do you know?  
Samantha Romenz: Easy, I found particles of gold on the handle. My guess was that your killer touched the chain first and then the glass before getting rid of it. It seems like your killer is getting sloppy after all.  
Lewis Pepper: Any DNA on the glass at all.  
Samantha Romenz: No, the killer wiped the top clean with a towel so no DNA. But according to the shoe box you brought me, I found something interesting. The shoe box comes from a pair of slip ons, something that people would not wear during parties. Another guess of mine is that they tried to change shoes in case you would have found a footprint. As for what they did with their original shoes, that’s yours to figure out. All I can say is that the killer is wearing slip ons.  
Lewis Pepper: Thanks Samantha, they’ll be slipping on a pair of handcuffs when I catch them. I should head back to the main room to find more clues. 

At the main room, Lewis finds a faded map and a tray of dishes.  
Lewis Pepper: Still crowded as usual. It’s still a wonder why these people aren’t bored yet. Anyway, this tray of dishes looks like they could be hiding something in here. Plus, this map is faded and has some sort of red writing on that end of the paper. Time to dust it to reveal something good. 

Lewis goes through the tray of dishes.  
Lewis Pepper: Huh, what is this cell phone doing here and who does it belong to? Arthur should find out who and why put it in a tray of dishes.

Lewis sends the phone to Arthur and dusts the map.  
Lewis Pepper: Hmm, the writing on the map says, “Never here again Riley. I don’t want to get us stranded.” The only person I could think of to write this is the captain Kirk Ruiz. I wonder what his story behind this island and him are and why Riley is involved. I should talk to him.

Krik Ruiz: Did you find the killer sir? Drinking this champagne is the only thing I can do to keep me calm.  
Lewis Pepper: If you want me to find the killer, how about you start telling me about this island?  
Kirk Ruiz: Oh god, not The Pericles Island. I wrote him that note to tell him not to go there again, we could have died!  
Lewis Pepper: I’m guessing that island was never a safe place?  
Kirk Ruiz: Yes. At first, I didn’t think about it that much when he asked me to sail there with his friends until we learned it was owned by a different native country with firearms and terrorist groups. Worse when we almost ran out of fuel there! Look, I know some self defense back at high school, but we could have all died back there if I wasn’t quick enough to think this through. As for Riley, he still wanted to go, begging me.   
Lewis Pepper: Sounds like you got a motive to kill him.  
Kirk Ruiz: I would never kill him! He was the only one who could help me out with my taxes. 

Lewis Pepper: I do admire Kirk’s reaction when talking about that island. And it gives me a weird feeling that I should know that island some more. But I did notice that Kirk is wearing slip ons like the killer is right now, I should remember that.

Lewis calls Arthur.  
Arthur Kingsmen: Dude, two phones and a laptop? Are you seriously robbing this place?  
Lewis Pepper: More like how many secrets are we going to find. So spit it out and tell me who the phone belongs to.   
Arthur Kingsmen: Right, the phone belongs to one of your suspects Joy Lin, the victim’s accountant. Did she ever tell you the story of how she helped you with his car insurance problem?  
Lewis Pepper: Yeah, I thought she was a wonderful woman to help him.  
Arthur Kingsmen: Then I should change your thought after I tell you that it was all a scam. It turns out that she sabotaged his car one day and made him wreck, thinking that the brakes were jammed which in fact, she did it herself. She was writing a journal all about it.  
Lewis Pepper: She tried to kill him? “But why?”  
Arthur Kingsmen: I would get an answer from her because it sounds like she’s your prime suspect now.

Lewis Pepper: Joy Lin, I know about that stunt you pulled on Riley Reynolds. You sabotaged his car to make it look like an accident.  
Joy Lin: But how? I was the only one who knew, did you find my phone?  
Lewis Pepper: First, give me a honest answer or I’ll arrest you with attempted murder and fraud.  
Joy Lin: Fine, I did because he owned me one million dollars. He wasn’t paying me enough to be his accountant and refuse to share some of his money with me. So I decided to come up with this plan to cut off the brakes on his lamborghini and waited until he came to me. The poor guy was so distraught when he said that he wrecked his car.   
Lewis Pepper: And that’s where you decided to “help” him with his car insurance problem.  
Joy Lin: Just like taking a candy away from a spoiled baby. These new slip ons didn’t pay for themselves. The reason why I put my phone in the tray was because of that crazy woman who says she’s from the FBI. I’m not even sure if she even is law enforcement.   
Lewis Pepper: I’m not sure either, but don’t be surprised when she arrests you for your crimes Miss Lin.

At the main deck:  
Lewis Pepper: These people still don’t know that Riley is dead and it’s not helping me to give them giving away their position. All I know is that the killer wears slip on shoes, drinks champagne, and knows self defense. Even our suspects are not in a good spot. Both Kirk Ruiz and Joy Lin had some issues with him that were solved in some different ways. But then there’s the victim’s best friend Kyan Meyer who was supporting him for his kidney disease and Pamela Sharp with her show that the victim loved very well. Still, I’m not sure who’s capable of- (His phone starts ringing.) Arthur, usually I’m the one to call you.  
Arthur Kingsmen: Listen to me Lewis! That woman, Ecole Rivas, isn’t who she says she is. I’ve checked out the FBI’s logs and she’s not in any of them!  
Lewis Pepper: Then who is she!? Wait a minute, there she is! And she’s getting on a lifeboat!


	3. Chapter 3

Lewis Pepper: Things are not going well for this case. I have a couple of suspect and I don’t know which of them is capable of murder. Hopefully something comes- (His phone starts ringing.) Arthur, usually I’m the one who calls you.  
Arthur Kingsmen: Lewis, listen to me! That woman, Ecole Rivas, isn’t who she says she is. I checked the FBI logs and she’s not an employee there. Even the whole agency is concerned about this!  
Lewis Pepper: Then who is she!? Wait a minute, there she is! She’s taking one of the lifeboats, I got to stop her! (He hands up the phone.)

Lewis Pepper: Hands up Ecole Rivas! Step away from the lifeboat!  
Ecole Rivas: Mister Pepper! We are on the same side, remember?  
Lewis Pepper: Not this time! You lied to me Ecole, you’re not an FBI agent, a friend of mine checked it out!  
Ecole Rivas: Huh, you guys are a lot smarter than I thought. Look, I can explain everything.  
Lewis Pepper: Yeah you are, Riley’s room! Now!

In Riley's room.  
Lewis Pepper: Talk Ecole, what are you really here for?  
Ecole Rivas: I told you, the plans for the nuclear weapons. I was there when he and some other strangers were doing a trade at the docks. I’m a curious woman who needs some money. So maybe stealing the blueprints, testifying on Riley and having him rat out his teammates can give me my own yacht after this. Do you know how much champagne I would have drowned in besides one glass tonight?  
Lewis Pepper: Then why steal the lifeboat? Were you after him?  
Ecole Rivas: Of course. When I couldn’t find them anywhere on this boat, my guess was that he took them with him. So I was planning on following him until I knew for sure he had the plans.  
Lewis Pepper: Well sorry to ruin it but he was murdered hours ago, and that made you back on top of our suspect list.  
Ecole Rivas: He’s dead!? How come you didn’t tell me about this!? If you’re thinking I did it, you're wrong. I wouldn’t kill a guy while wearing slip ons, the blood will stain them. Although my self defense skills are spot on with muggers and burglars.  
Lewis Pepper: Don’t even try to escape out of this room until I find out who killed him in the first place. I could check out this place one more time before I lock you in here until this investigation is over. 

In Riley's room, Lewis finds a torn picture and a locked voice recorder.  
Lewis Pepper: Ok, this voice recorder looks like it’s been used for a long time. If I can unlock it, Arthur should be able to see what it has in store. And this picture is all torn up, with more writing on the back. I can fix this back up and see what was on it.

Lewis unlocks the voice recorder.  
Lewis Pepper: Now that’s unlocked, Arthur will happily tell me who’s on the recorder.

Lewis sends the recorder to the lab and fixes up the torn picture.  
Lewis Pepper: Hey, this is a photo of the victim and Ryan. The words on the back read “Me or the money, your choice -Ryan''. It looks like Ryan wasn’t happy about what Riley was doing with the money. I guess I’m back to talking to him again.

Ryan Meyer: Sir, I promise that I’m not drinking champagne anymore. My drunk self would have done some self defense in some ridiculous way.  
Lewis Pepper: I’m more interested why you didn’t tell me about Riley’s choice between you and the money.  
Ryan Meyer: So you found that picture? That no good jerk ripped it up when he read the back of it, in front of me.  
Lewis Pepper: I understand that he’s your best friend and rich.  
Ryan Meyer: That’s the problem! He’s too filthy rich to even care about me! I’ve known him since we were kids and we had a good friendship from the start until he started to collect money from the stock markets. He’ll spend his time on this stupid yacht with some other friends without me while I actually care about him and his disease. It was the reason why I got drunk, not because he ditched us. He even made fun of my slip ons that I brought here!  
Lewis Pepper: I understand that, but I really hope you didn’t do worse than that.  
Ryan Meyer: What do you mean by that? Is he okay?  
Lewis Pepper: Later I’ll tell you. Just don’t go anywhere.

Lewis calls Arthur.  
Lewis Pepper: Arthur, did you check out that voice recorder yet?  
Arthur Kingsmen: I sure did and I got a lot of gold for you. This recording was from the victim who does interviews with business workers or people from that yacht club. But there was one that really got my attention. It was the last one that involved him and one of your suspects, Pamela Sharp. And let me tell you, it was not easy hearing all of it. Pamela Sharp was going to shut down her show because she didn’t get enough money to continue. Riley was so livid at her that he even threatened to throw her off of the yacht if she didn’t bring it back up again.  
Lewis Pepper: Whoa, that’s not good. I have to talk to her again about this.

Lewis Pepper: Miss Sharp, you forgot to mention about canceling the show. Riley was very pissed about that.  
Pamela Sharp: Ok, I admit it. I’m shutting down the show. The truth was that I was running out of money and without Chuck and Johnny, I have no audience. When I confessed the truth to him, he was so mad. He started screaming at me, threatening me to throw this boat if I didn’t fix it. Luckily I knew some defensive moves if he tried to attack me. I then asked him for some money to start it back up again, but refused. He said it was my problem and that I should fix it myself.  
Lewis Pepper: You must be relieved that he left the boat.  
Pamela Sharp: Are you kidding me!? I’m probably the reason why he left! I just need to survive if he’s coming back to kill me!  
Lewis Pepper: I’m betting you will, just stay here in case something else comes into mind. 

At the main deck:  
Lewis Pepper: It looks like all of our suspects had issues with Riley and I don’t blame then. Pamela is fearing for her life from Riley’s outburst because of the show canceling. Then he ends the friendship with Ryan after trying to get him to choose between him or the money. Kinda reminds me of that dead FBI guy from before. I still don’t trust Ecole. She lied to me and sneaked her way into this yacht just to find the plans and sell them for money. If I want all of us off of this boat, I have to find the killer. Time for one last sweep at the main deck.

At the main deck, Lewis finds a golden chain and a pair of brown shoes.  
Lewis Pepper: Aha! This must be the victim’s gold chain that he was strangled with, I just found the murder weapon. There are some fibers on the connecting piece. I’m going to get a sample and send it to Samantha. And these shoes are here for some reason. Samantha said that the killer must have replaced these with the slip ons. There seems to be some strange cream substance on the laces. I can get a sample of that too and send it to Sammy. I’m this close to catching the killer, I know it.

Lewis collects a sample from both the golden chain and the shoes.  
Lewis Pepper: All I have to do is to send the samples and wait for the results.

Lewis calls Samantha.  
Lewis Pepper: Sammy, please tell me you have something from the samples.  
Samantha Romenz: You bet! I got enough to help you catch your killer. The golden chain is definitely the murder weapon that killed Riley, the burises match. The fibers tell a nice story that’ll help you. I analyzed the trading under a microscope and it turns out that they were from a tie.  
Lewis Pepper: Well a lot of people wear ties here but it’ll help catch the killer.  
Samantha Romenz: As for the cream you found me. It’s an ointment called arnica that helps with swelling and inflammation, like bruises. Even if Danny said that the victim was covered in some too, it also means that he took one last punch at his killer before dying in their hands.  
Lewis Pepper: So our killer has a bruise, this should be enough to find the killer. Thank you. 

Lewis Pepper: Time to catch this killer and put the ship back on dock.

Arrest the killer:  
Joy Lin: Wears slip ons, has a bruise  
Kirk Ruiz: Drinks champagne, knows self defense, wears slip ons, wears a tie, has a bruise  
Ecole Rivas: Drinks champagne, knows self defense, wears slip ons, has a bruise  
Ryan Meyer: Drinks champagne, knows self defense, wears slip ons, wears a tie  
Pamela Sharp: Drinks champagne, knows self defense, wears a tie.

Lewis Pepper: Kirk Ruiz, you are under arrest for the murder of your boss, Riley Reynolds.  
Kirk Ruiz: What!? That’s absurd! I’m not a killer detective, you know it!  
Lewis Pepper: I know that you beated him before strangling him to death with his golden chain; your self defense wasn’t enough to help you out.  
Kirk Ruiz: So? It doesn’t mean I have a reason to kill him.  
Lewis Pepper: Yet you do mind drinking your champagne after and before killing him. Do you think hiding that glass in a shoe box for slip ons was your best move?  
Kirk Ruiz: Everyone drinks champagne and wears slip ons. I’m not a killer!  
Lewis Pepper: Give it up, we got your tie fibers from the murder weapon and arcina on the shoes you wore during the murder. He did give you a good bruise before his death. The question is why waste everything for him?  
Kirk Ruiz: I didn’t want to, but he forced my hand! (Silence)  
Lewis Pepper: Forced your hand? If this was about that island again-  
Kirk Ruiz: No, it’s not about that stupid island. It’s those nuclear weapon plans he was hiding in his safe.  
Lewis Pepper: You know about the plans!?  
Krik Ruiz: I just got curious that’s all. He seems to talk about them all day when I was with him to set up for the party. I thought that he was having an upgrade on the yacht or part of a business meeting he was having. So I kinda picked his safe where I saw him store them. But as I started to read them, I was shocked! I never knew he could have this knowledge and interested in some apocalyptic weapons that could end the world.  
Lewis Pepper: Did Riley know about this?  
Kirk Ruiz: He came in when I had the files in my hand. He was angry at me, saying that I was never to read those files. That’s when he said he was going to fire me for that. I know what I did was bad, but I didn’t want to be fired! That paycheck was my way into surviving the taxes I was getting into. I apologized and tried to convince him to give me back my job, but he said that he's going to find a new captain who’s going to do a better job than me. I wasn’t going to let him do that, so I fought with him before strangling him with his golden chain. It was the only way, I know.  
Lewis Pepper: No it wasn’t. You could have dealt with the consequences or went to the police about the files. Instead you chose murder and made it harder. Put this boat back on docks and I'm gonna take you to the court.

At the court.  
Judge Emily: Is there a reason for a trial this late at night? I have a dentist appointment tomorrow at noon.  
Lewis Pepper: Umm, this man killed someone your honor.  
Judge Emily: Oh right, Kirk Ruiz. You are here by court for the murder of Riley Reynolds, how do you plead?  
Kirk Ruiz: Guilty your honor, I didn’t want him to take my job away. I needed it to pay the bills.  
Judge Emily: There are other jobs that can do that, you just made the wrong decision in your own hands. For that, I hereby sentence you to 25 years in prison.  
Kirk Ruiz: I guess I won’t have to worry about my taxes anymore. 

At the HQ.  
Vivi Yukino: Lewis, you’re back. I heard that you arrested that captain for murder.  
Lewis Pepper: I know, all just because he was fired. The only issue is that he’s seen that plan and probably knows where it is.  
Vivi Yukino: Don’t worry, now that you are here, we can start finding those plans soon.


	4. Additional Investigation 4 of 6: Fires and Spirits

Lewis Pepper: Ok team, after a late night of partying and catching a killer, I think I’m really tired from doing all of this work.   
Vivi Yukino: Taking a break already? We’ve been up too you know. We still need to find those documents and make sure they won’t be used ever.   
Lewis Pepper: Right, and while we are at it, maybe I could talk to Joy Lin about her crimes. She did try to murder Riley months ago.  
Vivi Yukino: How about I do that? You can take care with the plans, starting by talking to our killer Kirk Ruiz. He’s at the prison.  
Lewis Pepper: Alright then, and you can start arresting Joy Lin. Let’s go.

Lewis talks to Kirk Ruiz:  
Lewis Pepper: Alright Kirk, it’s time that you told me about where you put those plans.  
Kirk Ruiz: Hello again. I know what I did was a mistake, but can’t I make some deal with this? Maybe a reduced sentence?  
Lewis Pepper: Let me think about it. Hmmm, no. 25 years is a good amount of time for you to think of what you could have done. Now, I want to know where you put the plans at.  
Kirk Ruiz: (sighs) Fine, I hid them in a cooler during the party. I got freaked out and I couldn’ even think straight. So I took the documents with me and decided to hide them in a safer place.  
Lewis Pepper: I don’t think a cooler is a good place to hide things, not when people want drinks from there.   
Kirk Ruiz: It was empty when I put it in there and put it in a safe place at the main deck. No one knows it’s there.  
Lewis Pepper: Fine, I’ll go to the main deck to find this cooler. As for you, good luck rotting in prison.

At the main deck, Lewis finds a cooler.  
Lewis Pepper: This must be the cooler Kirk was talking about. If the plans are in here, then we are safe. 

Lewis searches the cooler.  
Lewis Pepper: Hey, this file has the name “Operation Atomic”. It has to be related to nuclear weapons. Wait, this is just the cover, where are the actual plans? Either Kirk was lying or someone took the plans out and left the cover behind. I should dust it for fingerprints. 

Lewis dusts the folder.  
Lewis Pepper: Sweet, time to send the folder to Arthur and see who’s touched the folder besides the victim and the killer. 

At the lab.  
Lewis Pepper: Arthur, please tell me you got some hits.  
Arthur Kingsmen: Oh yeah, and you won’t like it. I got three profiles from the folder you gave me. The first two were who we were expecting, Riley Reynolds and Kirk Ruiz. As for the third one, it’s our troublemaker Ecole Rivas.

Lewis Pepper: So she took the plans? I need to find her before she gets away with the plans.

Lewis talks to Ecole Rivas.  
Lewis Pepper: Stop right there Ecole!  
Ecole Rivas: It’s really nice to see you again detective Pepper. I supposed that you aren’t done with me?  
Lewis Pepper: The files, where are they? We found your fingerprints on the folder inside the cooler.  
Ecole Rivas: I knew that was going to get me caught. Look, I had the files and then I...lost them.  
Lewis Pepper: You did what!?  
Ecole Rivas: Well I put them down somewhere in Riley’s room when I was trying to use the bathroom and now I misplaced them. But I was just trying to give them to you as soon as I can. I’m in a lot more trouble than you think.  
Lewis Pepper: Oh yeah. I can see that. How about I take you back to HQ and I’ll find those files?  
Ecole Rivas: I can help too, you know. Just give me a chance.  
Lewis Pepper: You lost that chance a long time ago. I’ll deal with you later after this.

Lewis goes into the victim’s room and finds a locked safe.  
Lewis Pepper: Surely she wouldn’t put in the same safe and say she “misplaced it.” The only way to find out is to unlock it.

Lewis unlocks the safe.  
Lewis Pepper: Sweet! These must be the plans! Now that’s all covered I should hand these over to Arthur, Mystery, and Laurel to look at. I should talk to Ecole about this.

Ecole Rivas: Did you find the plans?  
Lewis Pepper: Yeah, they were in a safe. The same one that Riley put in before he was murdered. How can you misplace that?  
Ecole Riva: No, I put them somewhere else. Someone else must have seen it and put it back in a safe. We need to find out who.  
Lewis Pepper: No we don’t because we have it and you are going to be charged with false identification, trespassing, hacking, and stealing evidence.   
Arthur Kingsmen: About that Lewis, can I talk to you for a second? I have an idea.

Lewis Pepper: What is it Arthur?  
Arthur Kingsmen: I know it might sound crazy, but I think she’ll be a great person for our team. I think we should hire her.  
Lewis Pepper: What? Why?   
Arthur Kingsmen: I mean, she has the guts to get on a ship with a fake ticket, steal some plans, and break some laws. She could be an expert at some things.  
Lewis Pepper: You just want a break from your work, don’t you?  
Arthur Kingsmen: No…...ok maybe. But that’s not the point. She could be very useful when doing encryption hacks sneaking into places without being spot. Trust me.  
Lewis Pepper: If you say so, but she has to earn our trust first.  
Ecole Rivas: I couldn’t help to overhear about hiring me. I think I’ll like to work with you guys.  
Lewis Pepper: Then it’ll be a perfect punishment for you instead of prison. Welcome to the team Ecole.   
Ecole Rivas: It’s an honor detective Pepper. I won’t let you down.  
Lewis Pepper: Well, I think you might sometime. But for now, you stay with us and stay away from the field work.  
Ecole Rivas: I promise to keep my hands away from the crime scene and stay here. Thank you.

Vivi talks to Joy Lin.  
Vivi Yukino: Okay Joy Lin, you’re under arrest for the attempted murder for Riley Reynolds and embezzlement.   
Joy Lin: What!? I thought you guys were only focusing on who killed him!?  
Vivi Yukino: We don’t leave things behind. The judge will give you a good sentence, maybe the same as his killer.  
Joy Lin: Wait! What about a deal? I know something that can be useful.  
Vivi Yukino: Ok, talk.  
Joy Lin: If you didn’t know, there was a conversation about that cult, the ummm….  
Vivi Yukino: The Spirit Callers?  
Joy Lin: Yeah, they were talking about how this Mystery Skulls, your team, was doing an investigation on them.   
Vivi Yukino: Did you see their faces?  
Joy Lin: Not exactly, everyone was crowded together so I didn’t know who said that. But this does mean I get a deal right?  
Vivi Yukino: If I get evidence. Where did you hear this at?  
Joy Lin: The main room where the party was at.  
Vivi Yukino: Alright, I’ll start there and then my team will talk about reducing your sentence. 

At the main room, Vivi finds a ripped sticky note.  
Vivi Yukino: This place is really trashed. If Riley was still alive, he would have cleaned this whole place up. But at least I get some evidence of these cult members. This sticky note is all ripped up, maybe I can find something useful for this if I fix it up.

Vivi fixes the sticky note.  
Vivi Yukino: Okay, this is weird. It’s not even words, it looks like symbols. I’m not even sure what language they are from. Mystery can help me find out what this says.

At the library.  
Mystery Yukino: You should really let me teach you some things about the hidden things in this secret world.   
Vivi Yukino: I asked, but you were too busy being yourself, a lazy fat dog.  
Mystery Yukino: Lazy yes, fat is not a word I love to hear. But still, I do promise to teach you. For example, this language made by the ancient symbols made by the Hawaian culture years ago.  
Vivi Yukino: How long?  
Mystery Yukino: Very long, maybe when I was a cub. Anyway, I translate these symbols into a full sentence. “Meet in the jungle at Jan 1st, 8PM.” This must be the next meeting for the cult.  
Vivi Yukino: But that’s not until tomorrow night. Plus that jungle is so big, we don’t even know which part of the jungle they are at.   
Mystery Yukino: Then we should get a plan before that time. For now, let’s celebrate a new hit on our investigation.   
Vivi Yukino: If you say buffet, you are obviously fat.  
Mystery Yukino: Sometimes, I wish that you hadn't made jokes about my weight.

At the HQ.  
Lewis Pepper: I heard you got a new lead on the Spirit Callers.  
Vivi Yukino: We sure did, they have a night meeting in the jungle at 8 PM. What about those plans on nuclear weapons?  
Arthur Kingsmen: Oh, you are going to love this. It turns out that the weapons were created on an island called the Pericles Island.  
Lewis Pepper: Hey, that was the island that Kirk Ruiz didn’t want to go anymore. So that explains why Riley was going there, he was working for that island.  
Laurel Inti: Yep, we notified the FBI about this and they are going to call the whole government on their dirty operation.   
Mystery Yukino: Don’t forget that you are going to be Joy’s lawyer in her trial.  
Laurel Inti: Hoping to give her a reduced sentence for helping us find a lead on the cult.   
Lewis Pepper: Wow, we got a lot of work done today. We are very proud, let’s not forget to welcome our newest member of the team.   
Ecole Rivas: It’s strange working with people, but I’ll get used to it.  
Arthur Kingsmen: I’ll show you around the lab Miss Rivas. I know a thing or two about identifying profiles.   
Ecole Rivas: I’ll be pleased.  
Arthur Kingsmen: By the way, the fishermen are going to be at the docks tomorrow to catch the legendary black shark. It’s worth a lot of money if we catch it and I was thinking we should go.  
Lewis Pepper: Why not, it’s a good way to take a break from a lot of work. So get some good sleep team and tomorrow, we head to the docks.


End file.
